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Game Day #21: Kings @ Rangers Preview

Posted on by Tina Yang

Los Angeles Kings v New York Rangers (Madison Square Garden)

Time: 4.00 PM

TV: Fox Sports West

Enemy reading: Blueshirt Banter

Rangers (projected) lineup:

Hagelin-Richards-Callahan
Kreider-Stepan-Zuccarello
Boyle-Brassard-Dorsett
Pouliot-D. Moore-Miller

McDonagh-Girardi
Staal-Stralman
J. Moore-Falk

Lundqvist

Injured: Rick Nash, Taylor Pyatt; Scratched: Brandon Mashinter, Michael Del Zotto

Kings (projected) lineup:

Brown-Kopitar-Williams
King-Richards-Toffoli
Carcillo-Stoll-Frattin
Pearson-Vey-Lewis

Muzzin-Doughty
Regehr-Voynov
Mitchell-Martinez

Not Martin Jones, Ever

Game notes:

  • I’m sure you recall, but the last time the Kings and Rangers met, at the beginning of the season, the Kings lost because they played like garbage. The Rangers would go on to open the season 2-7, including humiliating 6-0 and 9-2 losses to the Ducks and the Sharks, respectively. (They also lost 4-1 to the Coyotes. The Rangers are good for absolutely nothing, is what I am saying.) The Rangers have since regained a little bit of dignity, going on a modest win streak to land at 10-9-0 on the season, despite losing Rick Nash very early on.
  • Tonight is the second half of a back-to-back for the Rangers, as rookie goalie Cam Talbot got his first NHL shutout in a 1-0 win against the Habs.
  • I’m not entirely certain about the Rangers lineup. Michael Del Zotto was scratched last night, in favour of Justin “not Justin Faulk” Falk. It appears Falk will remain in, and trade rumours are swirling around Del Zotto, although nothing has been confirmed yet (and if you are one of the deranged people spreading Del Zotto for Yakupov rumours on twitter, please know that I think you need to seek help).
  • The Kings will go with a slightly altered lineup as well. The Pearson-Vey-Frattin line got eaten alive against the Devils, so Coach Sutter goes for experience, as Dan Carcillo and Matt Frattin will wing Jarret Stoll on the third while, while the fourth line will be Pearson-Vey-Lewis.
  • You would scratch Jordan Nolan after he had a pretty good game, Darryl Sutter. YOU WOULD.
  • The Kings were not particularly great against the Devils, but they held the fort defensively, Scrivens was very solid, and they took good advantage of the Devils’ mistakes. I anticipate a stronger offensive performance against the Rangers now that they’ve had a day of rest.
  • About a quarter of the season has passed, and I’ve arbitrarily decided that we have a big enough sample size to start considering multi-game statistics, so today marks the return of ~Fun With Numbers~:
    • Team GP Points ROW Goal Diff PP% PK% S/G SA/G CF% (ES) FF% (ES) PDO
    Kings 20 27 (8th, W) 9 +11 (8th) 21 (10th) 81.8 (18th) 32.2 (5th) 25.3 (4th) 58.0% (1st) 57.2% (1st) 992 (19th)
    Rangers 19 20 (8th, E) 10 -7 (21st) 18.8 (16th) 83.6 (11th) 31 (7th) 29.2 (11th) 51.7% (9th) 52.1% (9th) 974 (28th)
  • Prediction: Kings win 3-2, we are reminded a million times that the Kings drafted Brian Boyle, and still nobody cares about Brian Boyle.

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